Climate Choices - Children's Voices

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Causes of Climate Change

The graph covers the period from 1850 to 2005, and shows how global temperature change and levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide follow a similar pattern.

The carbon dioxide concentration starts at 285 parts per million (ppm), and rises steadily to 315 ppm in about 1955. Following this, the concentration increases at a higher rate, reaching about 380 ppm by 2005.

Over this same period the average global temperature increases, rising about 0.8 degrees celcius above the 1850 level by 2005. The change in temperature shows some rises and falls over this period, but the general trend is an increase.